Petroleum statistics for the Mideast Gulf - a survey

The article surveys the sources of statistics relating to oil production in Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It is claimed that the data are hard to find and may be controversial; data on crude oil production is particularly contentious. Data on proven oil reserves in various countries and continents are listed together with OPEC's annual statistical bulletin for OPEC reserves by country. Under the sub-heading of Upstream Data are discussed (i) reserves; (ii) production; (iii) exploration and (iv) finance and fiscal regimes. Under Downstream Data are discussed (i) refining; (ii) trade and pricing and (iii) domestic energy consumption. In an Appendix, both primary and secondary sources of data are listed